Edmunds County Tribune -

Ipswich came up short in a SoDak 16 high school volleyball trip to Hitchcock-Tulare last Tuesday in Tulare. The 3-1 defeat ended the Lady Tigers' season at 21-6 and will send the Patriots to the State B in a game vs. Warner scheduled for 7 p.m. on Nov. 19 in Huron. That will be the first qualification for the B by the combined Hitchcock and Tulare contingent, coached by Roscoe native Jordan Opp.

The other first-round games that day will feature number one Northwestern vs. Corsica-Stickney at 12 noon, followed by Colman-Egan vs. Bridgewater-Emery. The day's third game slated for 5 p.m. will feature our remaining Region 2B qualifier Faulkton Area, which had edged Kimball/White Lake in their SoDak 16 qualifying contest . The Trojan girls will face Chester Area.

Meanwhile, Ipswich indeed got off to an impressive start at Tulare by winning its first set 25-19. (The set point proved to be a service ace from Halle Heinz.) But the hosts had other ideas and would go on to claim three straight set wins --25-21, 25-17 and 25-18. The closest Ipswich got in the fourth set was to within three points, 19-16, but that ignited a 3-point mini run by the hosts to restore order and they didn't look back.

The hosts fueled their attack with a 152-176 spiking effort that featured 44 kills. Ipswich countered with a 113-146 evening at the net with 40 kills. The Lady Tigers were led by Lindsey Grabowska, 40-50 with 17 kills and Paige Mehlberg, 18-20 with six kills. Halie Feldman also contributed six kills.

Ipswich was 75-82 at the service line with three aces, including that set-winner by Heinz, who was 15-17 overall. Tarynn Kleffman went 18-19, also with an ace and Chesney Olivier added a 13-13 evening there. (Feldman landed the other ace.)

Ipswich finished 135-138 in setting duties with 38 assists. Heinz was 45-47 with 17 assists and Bailey Pitz 65-66 with 15 assists.

Ipswich also utilized four solo blocks and four assisted blocks, led by Mehlberg with three solo efforts and two assists. The Lady Tigers totaled 120 digs, paced by Chesney Olivier with 26, Kleffman with 24 and Grabowska with 18.

The seniors, alphabetically, are Hailey Bierman, Halie Feldman, Kate Geditz, Lindsey Grabowska, Halle Heinz, Tarynn Kleffman, Paige Mehlberg, Ashton Loken, Chesney Olivier and Bailey Pitz. And each and every one of them will be missed, especially by Coach Osborne!